{"id":5770,"date":"2013-09-23T09:15:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T13:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/?p=5770"},"modified":"2019-08-30T16:41:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T16:41:33","slug":"you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/blog\/you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"greMaybe by now, you all know that I hate vocab. It\u2019s not my thing. It doesn\u2019t come naturally to me at all. I have to make the flashcards, do the practice quizzes, and fight my way through it. One thing that really works for me is coming up with my own short, general description of a word. If I try to have just some<\/i> idea of what it means, that\u2019s probably what I\u2019ll need for the test.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, the reason a word is on the GRE is that we often us it wrong. Sometimes it\u2019s just a common misunderstanding that\u2019s caught on. Other times, it\u2019s a word we\u2019ve pretty much stopped using except in one context, where either one of the two meanings would make sense.<\/p>\n

Want a couple examples?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Peruse.<\/b> Peruse doesn\u2019t mean \u201cto browse or glance something over\u201d. It means \u201cto read or examine carefully.\u201d If you start using it that way in conversation, everyone will think you\u2019re an idiot. But you should know it come GRE test day.<\/li>\n
  2. Abscond. <\/b>We usually only use this word in sentences like, \u201cHe absconded with the diamonds.\u201d A lot of us think it means stealing, but it doesn\u2019t. It means to sneak away, especially to avoid getting in trouble.<\/li>\n
  3. Refute. <\/b>We\u2019re used to this word, and know that when you \u201crefute\u201d someone\u2019s argument, you shut it down. But not just by disagreeing, as is commonly thought. \u201cRefute\u201d means to completely disprove something.<\/li>\n
  4. Condone.<\/b> We usually use this word in expressions like, \u201cthe school does not condone this behavior.\u201d Well, the school might not approve of the behavior, but that\u2019s not what \u201ccondone\u201d means \u2013 it means \u201coverlook\u201d or \u201cdisregard\u201d. If I condone what you\u2019re doing, I don\u2019t necessarily approve of it \u2013 I\u2019m just not going to stop you.<\/li>\n
  5. Consent. <\/b>This one\u2019s kind of like condone. If I consent to your argument, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean I like it. It just means I agree, even in a passive way or with a negative attitude.<\/li>\n
  6. Aggravate. <\/b>If you\u2019re in a great mood, nothing can aggravate you. That\u2019s because \u201caggravate\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cannoy\u201d; it means \u201cmake something bad even worse.\u201d So if you already have a wound, pouring salt on there can aggravate it, but my throwing salt in your face does not aggravate you.<\/li>\n
  7. Travesty.<\/b> \u201cTravesty\u201d sounds like \u201ctragedy\u201d, but like a lot of words on the GRE, it doesn\u2019t mean what it sounds like, despite the fact that this word is misused more frequently than it\u2019s correctly used. A travesty is a satire or a parody.<\/li>\n
  8. Enormity. <\/b>Yes, it sounds like \u201cenormous.\u201d No, it doesn\u2019t mean \u201cenormousness.\u201d When someone wants you to understand \u201cthe enormity of the situation\u201d, they don\u2019t want you to know how big it is; they want you to know how bad<\/i> it is. \u201cEnormity\u201d means something evil or immoral.<\/li>\n
  9. Chronic. <\/b>Most of us don\u2019t want to have chronic pain, because that sounds bad. And it is. But that\u2019s not because something \u201cchronic\u201d is severe or bad or strong. That\u2019s because it goes on for or takes place over a long period of time. You can indeed have chronic happiness, and you might if you get a great score on the GRE.<\/li>\n
  10. Redundant. <\/b>If you study a word 100 times, is that redundant? Maybe. If you already know the word, sure. But if you\u2019re still learning it, nope. Because \u201credundant\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201crepetitive\u201d; it means \u201cexcessive\u201d or \u201cunnecessary\u201d. So reminding a child each day to brush his teeth isn\u2019t redundant if the child would otherwise forget.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While we\u2019re at it, \u201cterrific\u201d means scary (think \u201cterror\u201d), \u201crefute\u201d means \u201cdisprove\u201d (not \u201cargue against\u201d), and while you may find it inconceivable <\/i>(sorry, I couldn\u2019t resist), \u201cultimate\u201d means last (not best).<\/p>\n

    When you hit a word that you already \u201cknow\u201d, but your definition is a little off, make sure you acknowledge the difference. It won\u2019t stick with you unless you practice it. Those words, the ones that we think we know, are dangerous! But get them down, and even the six-fingered man won\u2019t be able to keep you from your best score.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Maybe by now, you all know that I hate vocab. It\u2019s not my thing. It doesn\u2019t come naturally to me at all. I have to make the flashcards, do the practice quizzes, and fight my way through it. One thing that really works for me is coming up with my own short, general description of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[338],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verbal","category-vocabulary","tag-vocab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6858,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5770\/revisions\/6858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5770"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}